TRENDS
Ferla says. "This makes it much
easier to keep everyone on the
same page."
DMS Hosting Options
A cloud-based DMS, whether on
premises or hosted in a public
cloud, offers many benefits.
Documents are accessible
anytime, anywhere, which is
invaluable in a global economy.
Also, a reputable online system
will have electronic security
protections in place.
The only drawback is end users
will need to learn new software,
but because the function and
flow of the DMS tends to be
similar from one application to
another. Furthermore, with a
good DMS provider, support and
training should come as part of
the package.
Template Management
Systems
Sorting out a company's DMS
isn't enough; a solution must be
found for business templates and
document creation as well.
Businesses produce vast amounts
of documents every day. A template
management system improves the
processes around core operations
such as emails, presentations,
standard Word documents,
Excel spreadsheets, etc. The
differentiating factor between an
excellent DMS and a run-of-the-mill
one is a template management
system that helps staff work
smarter and more efficiently by
using corporate templates across
the organization.
µ
According to a
survey on paper
consumption
habits among
U.S. office
workers, those
in paper-based
offices spent an
average of
1.6
hours a day
creating reports
from paper
documents
Standardization
Across the Board
A strong advocate of office
automation is David Ciccarelli,
co-founder and CEO of Voices.
com, an online platform with
offices in California, London and
Ontario in Canada. He has taken
the plunge to go paperless. For
10 // JULY 2018 ibmsystemsmag.com
his company, creating custom
documents is important because
it gives end users the sense that
the information is both relevant
and important.
"We've standardized the
look, feel and format of our core
documents across our entire
company. Using a single hub for
the creation of content means
that documents have a consistent
look which meets visual branding
guidelines and also saves time by
avoiding re-creating styles from
scratch," Ciccarelli says.
All company files have been
digitized. Ciccarelli even goes
so far as to say that Voices.com
is a "digital first" company. This
means that all company forms,
contracts and other files start
digital and stay that way through
the entire process.
"When it comes to reports and
presentations, we've certainly
benefited from leveraging a master
template that includes 200-plus
slides providing visualizations for
infographics, timelines, charts,
graphs and maps. By sticking to
the slides provided and working
from them as a starting point,
we've saved countless hours in
graphic design and headaches
from those less graphically
inclined from struggling in
PowerPoint or Google Slides (our
standard)," he says.
Ongoing Digitalization
Luke Hughes, co-founder and
CEO of U.K.-based OriGym,
explains why he decided to
move his organization onto a
paperless footing: "From an
anecdotal perspective, the rising
sophistication of CRM software
allows for cloud integration of
documents across departments.
We can, therefore, manually
attach important documents to
relevant email streams, allowing
for the seamless planning of
workflows within our office."
Remotely accessible digital
dashboards also allow for flexible
working patterns. For example,
employees can work remotely
and view the same documents as
office-based staff, with updates in
real time.
"As far as negatives go,
there are sometimes nagging
doubts about the safety of
cloud storage, and what would
happen if the servers went
down. However, digital files
are far safer than their printed
counterparts, and the benefits,
from a business perspective,
far outweigh the drawbacks,"
Hughes adds.
Ciccarelli agrees. "Like
any change initiative, it's
imperative to communicate the
'why.' Explain to staff why the
organization is moving towards
a paperless environment and
the efficiencies to be gained," he
says. "Whatever your challenge,
quantify it and then create a
vision for how your organization
could operate if everything was
paperless."
He adds that as new employees
enter the workforce, they expect
organizations to be adopting the
latest technology and the best
practices in content creation
and document management.
Failing to do so may lose a
potentially great candidate or an
aspirational employee who knows
your internal processes could
improve.
Benefits and
Cost Savings
Apart from saving time, effort and
duplication of work, cost savings
will come most in the form of
paper and ink utilization.
Cicarelli adds that the biggest
challenge with a DMS won't be the
technology and whether it works.
Instead, the challenge companies
will face will be that of adoption.
He advises organizations to